Psychophysical technique first exclusive pro use in Spooks/MI5 - From the Archives - 2009

16th July 2009 Global Arena Psychophysical technique in “Spooks” [MI5]

FOR REFERENCE YOU CAN SEE A SCENE FROM SPOOKS HERE.

I should warn you.  This is truly a nerdy blog.  It is unashamedly about acting technique in practice.  The Global Arena Psychophysical technique as used on an episode of "Spooks"

Over the years I have become used to 'creating' characters for TV at short notice with no rehearsal.  At the very least you hope to be believable and perhaps if you're lucky even compelling in the role. It is most likely with TV casting that you will be, at least in some ways, close to the role you are being asked to play.  The smaller the distance between yourself and the character, the safer you feel, and time constraints seem less stressful.  However, this safety has always felt like a compromise when compared the relative indulgence afforded by even limited theatre rehearsal.

When I was offered a great (and text heavy) part in Spooks with less than 36 hours before shooting the first scene, I squeezed past my fear of failure, and decided to use the Langlois Technique.  I decided I could always 'go back' to my old ways, but it would be a fun and important test to see how easy, how useful and how appropriate it was for a big TV role. Why not? Sam Miller, the director was approachable and quite bluntly honest, I knew he wouldn't hesitate to tell me if I was rubbish and off the mark.  The balance of risk was simple:  work in a way I had become unhappy with, with results I often felt were lacking, or work in a way I enjoyed, with results which may or may not be lacking.  With Sam as a control, it was a much easier choice.

I won't bore you with the exact process I followed, the success of the technique is really in the doing - so I can only hope you'll come to more workshops. For those of you who have already attended some of my workshops, you'll know the area I work in.  In brief I used the Technique to constantly define relationships with people/concepts/objects in a simultaneously physical and psychological way.  I then built a character from these relationships, using improvisations, and then later chose one or two salient 'Embodiments' that no-one would ever see.  Except perhaps, for Lucinda (Lloyd-Eason), who spent a  morning working with me in a studio at the actors centre, helping me build these foundations.

Sam directed nearly all our scenes in one go, with at least two cameras, meaning it felt more like a live recording of a TV play.  I'm sure this helped all of us. Sam is a daring director, and has a serious background as an actor. He's quite willing to change the script and constantly adapt to the talent and material he has at his disposal; tell the best story in the best way, and take risks. Sam had cast a highly experienced and talented bunch, too.  A generous bunch.  I have never had so much help and encouragement from fellow actors.

Of course, I didn't tell anyone how I was working.  I quietly translated Sam's notes into my own language, just as I normally would with a director unfamiliar with the Method.

It was a fantastic experience.  I felt free and connected to the character and the scene. I was rarely caught in my head and felt free and secure enough in my approach to improvise and to be unsafe in the right direction.  A couple of weeks later I looked back at the script and noticed the absence of the lines and columns that dominated my habitual Method approach.  I hadn't written down one Action or Objective.  For a moment I was freaked out - but then I realised that the 'Actions, Objectives and Obstacles' were all still there.  They'd been played, but in a fluid, instinctual and connected way, allowed by an environment set up by the Langlois Technique. I hadn't needed to name the Action at any point. Crazy.

So. There you have it.  I admit, it's a risky thing being so positive about this new technique before you see the 'result'.  But I know there is so much that goes into our subjective judgement of each other's acting that, ultimately, I believe  that the benefits of the Technique are worth sharing.  Whatever you think of the episode.  After all, a good technique facilitates and improves what you have, and helps you discover exactly what that is.  In my experience, and the experience of an increasing number of actors, Langlois Technique is doing just that.  It is a freeing, imaginative, playful tool, that offers a kind of connection with a role that is normally associated with long theatre runs.  I've put my money where my mouth is, and put aside my habitual addiction to The Method in a high pressure context, and I found it helped.